


Chosen King

by Aloria_Green



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anal Sex, Ardyn Izunia Redemption, Ardyn Izunia is a Troll, Eventual Romance, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Mutual Masturbation, Oral Sex, Parent Ardyn Izunia, Public Masturbation, Slice of Life, Slow Burn, Vaginal Sex, Verstael is sick in the head, characters in pain are more fun, choice vs destiny, story covers over 30 years
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-16 17:41:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 21,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29211285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aloria_Green/pseuds/Aloria_Green
Summary: The Timeline; a crystallized path leading to the better ending possible given the circumstances. Easy enough to follow if -someone- would quit screwing it all up. Then again, maybe it was her own fault? Humans are, after all, gifted with free will.
Relationships: Aera Mirus Fleuret/Ardyn Izunia, Aranea Highwind/Ignis Scientia, Ardyn Izunia/Original Female Character(s), Iris Amicitia/Prompto Argentum, Lunafreya Nox Fleuret/Noctis Lucis Caelum
Comments: 5
Kudos: 7





	1. Diamonds

_White-hot._

_Searing- squeezing- sharp._

_A billion screams all at once._

Suddenly locked into place, they gasped for air, sight clearing. The sunshine above blinded them. They squinted, looking around, finding a sidewalk bustling with people, buildings, a street with cars... The people around them didn't seem to notice anything had changed, and yet... Everything had changed?

Looking down at their hands; small with uneven nails, a woman's hands. Yes. That was right, they were a woman.

Squeezing her eyes shut, she rubbed them, mussing her makeup. Makeup? Was she wearing makeup? She probably was, that was expected, right? She looked down at the dress she wore. It was an office dress of white with blue flower print, blue cardigan, and blue slip on flats. Her yellow purse hung from the handles on her arm.

Where was she?

 _Insomnia._ Right. That was where she was supposed to be. But where exactly?

She remembered a... sandwich shop? Department store? Bank? Post office? Like a roulette, the possibilities flipped through her memories. The street was familiar, but she couldn't place it. People walked by; only a few looked at her, mostly to go around. There was an air of festivity. Sweeping her gaze left and right, she turned to look back at the shop behind her. It was a sandwich shop of some kind, but not the one she remembered being in moments before. A billion names for this shop flicked through her mind, only a few matching what she now was staring at.

Maybe she had clues on her person? The longer she stood there, the more her mind settled on what was here and now, but also... the more it didn't make sense.

Her gaze shifted to her purse; which contained nothing. Keys, cellphone, even her makeup compact was missing. The branding on her bag was gone too. 

She lowered her hands and stared out at the street. Where was she? What had happened?

_Did I have a seizure?_

She made another slow turn around to look at the area. A short distance away was a square, purple banners and balloons lining the street. A celebration of some kind. What day was it? 

Oh yeah. Founder's Day. Why was it important though? Why was she _here_ instead of at home? Where even _was_ home?

_It's starting._

She turned towards the street. Time slowed.

A cab pulled up beside the curb.

A man in a military uniform stepped out.

She couldn't tear her eyes away. He closed the cab door and straightened his jacket, lips pulled into a half smirk and cold gaze flicking around the crowd. He knew something they didn't and it amused him to no end. The blood splatters on his ID put the hair on the back of her neck on end.

He locked eyes with her and smiled with a slight dip of his head.

She had an eerie feeling that she needed to say something. To stop him.

This looked so familiar. She had seen this a million times before, her memories of the moment whirling through all the possibilities; but no, this was the face he was wearing today, no one else, which meant that this was her only chance to speak, before the fire started.

He kept walking, approaching her. That man did not move like a soldier.

One of the purple banners nearby fluttered with a snap in the wind of a passing car.

That triggered something. Part of what she needed to say.

_An apology?_

He passed her. Two steps - three...

"Ardyn." The name slipped out as she stared at the soldier's back.

The soldier stopped.

Her blood froze as he turned partially, looking back at her over his shoulder.

Had he heard her? He couldn't have. Hyper aware of him, she could hear his boots scuffing the sidewalk.

He was coming back. She couldn't get her feet to move.

He turned her to face him with a rough tug on her arm. The smile he gave her was smarmy as he stepped close. "Did you say something?"

"Ah... No. Uhm." Her gaze flicked to his badge again. She could only focus on the blood splatters.

His hand gripped her arm.

Snapping her gaze back up to his face, she swallowed and laughed nervously. "I didn't see anything," she said.

"But you _know_ something," he said, leaning in.

"It'd be a bad idea to uh... Get rid of me... Here." She couldn't look away from his mouth as he continued smiling that smarmy smirk. "I mean... It'd cause a stir and wreck your big... Entrance... And all." Panic was making her talk too much. She shut her mouth and snapped her gaze up to his honey-brown eyes. Her mind, empty as a crystal, webbed with threads of flaws that caught the light.

Knowledge solidified into those spaces: this was Ardyn Lucis Caelum, wearing the face of an unfortunate soldier he had recently killed. And he was about to attack the city in a fit of revenge and part of a plot to get information on the Old Wall for Chief Besithia. He would then attempt to kill Regis Lucis Caelum, the current king of the country because of something the first king, Somnus, had done... what had he done? Betrayal, right.

She almost had reached the reason she needed to apologize when he shook her arm, jolting her back to reality. "And what would you know about that?" he drawled. His grip tightened on her arm.

What did she know about his Big Entrance? It was going to be big and people were going to die. "Just... Some things..." Her eyes slid to the side. There were still people walking by, but no one was interfering. Bystander effect at its best. "Things... It's almost one o'clock. You should get going."

"It can wait," he said, voice cold now. "What you have to say seems much more interesting."

"I - it's a lot... And... And you'll know a lot of it soon enough anyway."

"How so?" he asked. He leaned in much closer now, almost like a lover exchanging words with his beloved.

Anxiety began to shake her core. The words bubbled up from the back of her mind. She knew, without knowing how, that if she said this now, the future would be locked into one path or another. The power to set that in motion was in her hands and she was giving it to him. She couldn't remember past the Founder's Day Attack, though. She had the overwhelming urge to apologize to this man, like she'd done something terrible to him, but there was no way to make amends except to give him agency in his own life again. "You won't be allowed to kill him. But when you find out the truth... Resist." Daring to meet his eyes, she stared at him, almost sure she could see his real form; the true face of Ardyn Lucis Caelum, his long brown hair falling into his eyes. "Resistance is worth it. You'll get what you want, but on your terms."

He opened his mouth to speak but a tone from the speakers above announced the time.

"Do try to survive. I think I'd like to speak with you again," he said and released her.

"Yeah..." she said in a small voice and stepped back, legs finally obeying her commands. "Probably."

He smiled wider and did a gesture with his imaginary hat before turning away to stride up the sidewalk.

She turned and ran; her very human instincts kicking in finally to force her to escape. Dodging through the crowd wasn't easy. People stared at her in shock as she brushed past or nearly ran into them. Up ahead, she saw a cab pulled over. Throwing herself at it, she knocked on the window.

"It's open," the man said.

Slinging the door open, she dropped inside and nearly closed the door on her ankle in her haste. "Hammerhead!" she said. "Now! Floor it!"

"Woah, miss. Is something wrong?" The man turned to look back at her. "That's quite a ways."

"Now! Please! Just go now!"

Too late, the street behind them exploded.

She started to throw the door open to just get out and run, but the man threw the car into gear and floored it. Slammed back against the seat, she turned to look out the back window as the Daemonized Ifrit stalked past the intersection.

"What in the hell is that? Lady, do you have anything to do with this?"

"No. But I saw who did." She covered her face. "Just get out of the city center as fast as you can." Pulling her purse into her lap she stared into its empty depths and choked. Her arm still hurt from where Ardyn had gripped it. Rolling up the sleeve of her cardigan, she inspected the bruise and trembled.

The cab driver was at least trying, but kept stopping when fleeing people ran past.

"Shit."

Looking up, she saw debris blocking the road. How had it gotten there ahead of the cab? Ardyn was really going at it...

Shaking her head, she threw the door open and jumped out, just running again. Already out of breath, she pushed to keep at a fast walk, hoping that she was heading away from where the concentrated destruction would be. Something dark warped past.

She turned to look; Crownsguard.

Still too close.

She had kept pace with the crowd at least. Following them seemed like the best idea for now. They knew the city better than she did. Even if she felt like she should have known it better than she did. None of the landmarks she felt she should have known were matching up with her memories, as if she was mistaking a million different cities for the one she was in, all at the same time.

Fire erupted above, a ball of it sailing across the street from a parallel road to strike a building. Debris rained down on the crowd below.

People screamed. A new surge of terror urged them faster, crushing them together into a fearful clot of careless feet and pushing hands. Knocked into from all sides, she stumbled and nearly hit the ground. Swinging her arms to keep her balance, she grabbed the nearest person and clutched to stay on her feet. To fall here would be death. The man pulled away, shoving her off.

Stumbling into the side of a building, she hit the bricks hard with her shoulder, scraping along them as the press of people pushed by.

A concussive explosion resounded, flames heating the bricks around her, fire stealing the air from her lungs.

The ringing in her ears drowned out everything else.

Her knees hit the ground first, then her shoulder.

_What happened?_

Looking up, she saw the brooding eyes of the Infernian staring down at her from a crater. He had jumped from the top of a building to land in the street, squashing cars. A fire hydrant exploded, spraying water in a tall arc across the road. He turned away and headed down the street, slapping cars and Crownsguard out of the way with His gigantic sword.

Someone's hands gripped her shoulders.

She still couldn't hear.

They pulled her up, hoisting her over their shoulder. Her purse slipped from her grip, hitting the ground; lost amidst the flaming rubble.

The pain caught up to her finally. Lifting a hand, she clutched the back of her head.

_Wet?_

At least she was speeding away from the fight at a much faster pace than she could manage on her own. Other civilians were running by, soldiers mixed with the group, carrying other wounded. Hearing returned finally, though it was the same screaming and shouting. Soldiers shouting directions at the fleeing people.

The person holding her slowed and slid her forward off his shoulder, handing her to someone else. She couldn't focus her eyes to clearly see his face. He was gone before she could say Thank You and someone else was carrying her to sit next to other people.

"Are you hurt?" the man asked as he moved to kneel in front of her.

Staring at him blankly, she tried to focus on his face. All that registered was black hair. Unable to formulate sentences, she just held out the hand that had been clutching her head. Blood dripped from her palm.

"Head wound over here!" he shouted to the side and pulled out a pen light to tip her chin up, looking at her eyes. "Looks like a concussion," he said to the man that came to kneel beside him, unpacking equipment. "Miss, can you tell me what your name is?"

_Name?_

Like her purse... she suddenly realized her mind was empty of identifying information. Thousands of names swam though her mind, but none of them fit.

She knew what should have been there; where she had been born, her name, phone number, benefit number... All the various things that could have been looked up in a system and verified... They were gone.

"Do you have any identification?" the man insisted as his companion moved behind her to mess with the back of her head.

"No," she said, finally managing to string two sounds into a coherent word. She flexed her empty hands, her bloody one leaving marks all over her office dress. The man behind her wound bandaging across her forehead, then pressed something cold against the back of her head.

"Hold this," he said and took her hand to keep the ice pack in place. He said something to the man in front of her.

"We're going to take you to a hospital," the man said.

"Okay," she said. Shouldn't she have passed out or something?

"Can you stand?" He slipped an arm under hers. She was going to stand whether she wanted to or not.

Wobbling to her feet, she staggered with him through the crowd of people getting quick triage and into the back of a truck that already had four other wounded sitting in it.

"Just try to stay calm and keep that ice pack on your head. You're going to be okay," he reassured. She saw his mouth curve into a smile; the only thing she could see clearly other than his dark hair. He closed the doors to the back of the truck.

The vehicle began moving.

* * *

**April 4, 734**

"Am... I alive?"

The question came out automatically. His voice echoed in the stone holding cell he knew all too well. He shivered, the memories of that endless darkness cloaking his vision. For a moment, all he could think of was how he'd hung here in pain for ages; his arms linked over his head, suffocating him with his own weight, held in place by spears stabbed into his sides, bleeding endlessly and unable to die, his every strangled breath ripping those holes open.

This time was different though.

He was on his knees, his hands freed.

Ardyn lifted his head to stare down the dark stairs and at the blinding light beyond.

One moment he'd been beating the shit out of Regis Lucis Caelum. He'd briefly gotten to fight a stone form of Somnus and then the sniveling whelp had the audacity to grovel before Ardyn and ask for 'understanding'... Then he was facing Bahamute in the Beyond; the crystalline expanse of light and shadow a dizzying place with no beginning and no end, no up nor down.

_The True King shall be born to Lucis and lead the people as their beacon of hope and drive away the Darkness._

The very same Darkness Ardyn was Called to spread. Why spread something that was meant to be banished? Why torment mankind in such a way?

The ghost of pain echoed in his mind where his body felt nothing. It was that twisted look of hatred on Aera's face that hurt the most, though.

"Does it matter?" he asked, lips twisting in a snarl as he finished the thought. What was _life_ to him anyway?

 _The True King_ was meant to relieve Ardyn of his suffering? When Bahamute had been the one to set all this up and _make_ Ardyn suffer? What was the bloody _point_?

Sitting back on his feet, Ardyn clenched his fists on his knees.

Had she known? Had Aera been in on it? Her and Somnus, conspiring together to set him up for a most Holy betrayal. Bahamute's words echoed in his head. It didn't matter if she was, or if Somnus knew the God's plan. Bahamute had _always_ meant to use Ardyn as the world's sacrifice to get rid of a scourge He'd inflicted upon the world. Why create Starscourge if He hadn't meant for it to do the damage it had done upon Eos? Why make convoluted plots to destroy human lives just to get rid of it? Did that mean Bahamute had made a mistake? Had the Gods made a _mistake_? Why _Ordain_ any of this?

But what did it matter now? He was stuck in the middle of this fucking mess and had been tortured to go along with his role in it.

He slowly got up. "None of it matters," he growled. "Not the 'blessed' Gods above nor the accursed _kings_ below. To Hell with them all."

 _"Defy thy destiny if thou dare, but know that it would grant thee a life of darkness unending, devoid of death's reprieve,_ " Bahamute had warned. But that woman on the street...

What he _did_ know for certain was that the woman in the street had known him. She had _known_ what he was about to do. She had warned him that he would get the truth in short order.

He had _not_ been allowed to kill Regis. He had indeed found out the truth of his place in Bahamute's machinations, and he had resisted, only to be tortured into agreeing.

At least, he'd _said_ he would do it, but Ardyn's anger was returning, overwriting the pain of having that Trident stabbed into his chest again and again. All along, _this_ had been the plan? To string him along with a false promise that he could bring peace and healing to the people of his lands, only to have the Gods given gift turn out to be rotten at the core.

 _"Resistance is worth it. You'll get what you want, but on your terms,"_ she had said.

No. Ardyn would _not_ go along with this. He may have been set up to be a sacrifice for someone else's glory, but that didn't mean he couldn't do his damndest to destroy the world and kill the True King when he came and lock Eos in Darkness eternal.

If Ardyn was to suffer, then so too would the world.

What he _was_ going to do in the meantime, was go find that woman again. He would wring answers out of her.

Striding down the stairs, Ardyn stepped into the light and lifted his hand to shade his eyes.

Back on Angelguard, but this time without a handy boat or airship to take him away. Fucking great. Striding towards the beach, he stood on the rocky shore and scowled at the mainland. This wouldn't stop him for long, though.

Clenching his hands into fists, he called upon the Royal Arms, giving everything he had into it to lift himself off the ground. Slinging his body towards the distant shore, he skimmed over the rough waters that made Angelguard so difficult to get to; the rocky seabed below a dangerous obstacle to any boat with any sort of weight to resist the waves, whereas anything lighter would be shoved around, unable to pass. Flying easily overcame the problem, but being that it was full day, Ardyn didn't want to be seen by some damned fisherman. This new age was fucking confusing and he hated it.

He hated it almost as much as he hated Bahamute. He hated it slightly more than he hated Verstael for dragging him into it. That man was an absolute pain in the ass, always asking about Ardyn's _feelings_ and goading him into having opinions about things. Maybe Ardyn didn't _want_ to have an opinion? Maybe he wanted to sulk in misery for a little longer.

But _nooo_. This asshole had to turn on the lights and bring out his voice recorder and notebook and ask _questions._

Throwing his feet to the sandy beach on the other side of the straight, he kicked up a cloud. Ardyn seethed, called fire to his hand and threw it at the nearest thing. The rock he targeted didn't suffer much more than a blackening, but it made him feel a little better.

Straightening his spine, he pushed his shoulders back and chin up, taking a deep breath. This wasn't how a King should act, he reminded himself. He may not have been crowned, but he had to believe he'd been worthy of it on some level. The people certainly had said they wanted him to lead, to guide, to protect them. Not everything in his life had been a lie...

Had it?

The thought of Aera's love... Just an act...?

Closing his eyes at the pain in his heart, Ardyn gripped his chest and took a shuddering breath. She had been the only thing keeping him going some nights when the pain of the Starscourge had gotten to be too much. The idea of turning into a monster and letting _her_ down had kept him in control of his thoughts and body.

All for nothing.

But. He _had_ to have been worthy of the throne. If not for any other reason than because he had done everything he did for the people that Somnus hastily rounded up and burned.

Now... He needed to get back to Insomnia and find that woman. Perhaps she knew more.

If she did, he was going to learn it and use it to his advantage.

Eos would suffer for what the Gods had done to him. Gods they may be, but they had no right to lie to and toy with mankind. It would have been completely different if he'd been _told_ from the start what his part to play would be.

Ardyn started walking, heading North, toward the city that never slept.


	2. Psych Eval

**April 5, 734**

"You'll get an evaluation from the doctor later." The Psych nurse said. The stern-looking woman with dark eyes and brown hair pulled into a bun didn't look the least bit interested in her current patient, as if she had zero fucks left to give about anyone's mental health. With that, she left, non-slip shoes squeaking on the tile floor.

Alone in the double-bed room, she listened to the quiet sound of the air and her own breathing.

Yesterday, she'd been taken to the nearest hospital, had the back of her head shaved a little and stitched up. She had spent the night in the hospital. It had been noisy. The number of patients had only gone up since the attack, as daemons ran rampant in the city. In order to free up the bed, the hospital had sent her to the next stop along this carnival ride from Hell. Having not recovered anything in the way of memories, they'd chosen to send her to the Psych hospital a few blocks down the road.

She'd fully expected to just be dumped out as soon as she'd been stitched up, bill stapled to her forehead.

At least the wound on the back of her head didn't hurt anymore.

The problem was... Even if they'd turned her loose, she had no idea where to go. She still couldn't remember a name, address, or anything.

Setting the bag containing her clothes on the bed, she checked that her hospital gown was secured before wandering the room.

She was in a double, but it didn't look like the second bed was occupied. In the hall, she looked left to find a large window at the end, past six doors on either side of the hall, identical to the one she'd just stepped out of. Coming to stand at the window, she looked down at the busy street below. Rain pattered against the glass. It must have just started, since it wasn't raining when she'd come in from the ambulance. It still felt a little weird to call herself 'she'... The pronoun didn't feel like it fit entirely. She felt like she should have been a substantial person, but really, she only had shreds of visions, bouncing around like light off shards of glass, ephemeral and translucent, too insubstantial to examine with any detail. In fact, getting close to these memories blocked the light source and made them disappear.

She felt like an extrusion of something larger, stuffed through a hole and into an uncomfortably small box to interact with a world she wasn't meant to.

Nothing looked right. Not even her own body. Closing her eyes, she pressed her fingers to them.

All the important things had been compressed into an inaccessible jumble, leaving only a clear thread of thoughts; a timeline that stood out as imperative that she make happen.

Yesterday, she had met Ardyn Lucis Caelum; an unfortunate soul caught in the machinations of Gods. Chosen to become the world's sacrifice, but his immortality hadn't been part of the original plan. Or maybe it had... On Bahamute's part. She knew more about _him_ than she did of herself. He was once a mortal man, one of the two contenders to become the first king of Lucis. He was given a rotten gift to 'heal' Starscourge, but it in fact, only inflicted the pain of others upon himself. Then... Something had happened. That was another part she couldn't remember and left her only the pieces to extrapolate from the Timeline. Ardyn's suffering would end and Bahamute would answer for His crimes against Eos.

The Timeline required Ardyn to return to Niflheim, allowing the war between Lucis and Niflheim to cool for a while. It would be about twenty years of nothing until Noctis took the stage. Ardyn had rebelled, as she'd told him to. She felt that his choice to do so had locked them into a set path. Though many of the events would be the same between them, his reasons for his actions would differ enough that it would make the difference. What bothered her more than anything else was that she hadn't apologized to Ardyn. Even if she didn't know what she needed to apologize for.

What worried her, though, was that she now had Ardyn's attention. There was a fifty-fifty chance that he'd take the information he got from Bahamute and fuck off. OR... He would come looking for her.

...And kill her. And what could she really say about it? She couldn't fight. Shit, she couldn't even run fast enough or long enough to get away from the destruction.

Without a name, home, or anything, she also couldn't really go hide somewhere. So what was she going to do? Her only hope of not being found at the moment was hiding in the crowded city of Insomnia.

She turned around, heading to the common area she'd passed while being escorted by the stern nurse. There were two patients there. A middle aged man sat on the couch, rocking. A mid-twenties girl looked up briefly from putting a puzzle together on the table.

A small bookshelf caught her eye and she headed over to it to look at what they had to offer. She didn't recognize any of the titles, but they were non-fiction books as far as she could tell. One looked like a baby name book. Pulling it out, she stood and looked at the remaining seats in the common area. Either sit with the gently rocking guy on the couch or sit at the table with the Puzzler.

She chose the Puzzler, careful not to disturb any of the pieces. The Rocker didn't look like he wanted company, he seemed overwhelmed.

"What're you in for?" the Puzzler asked.

"Amnesia," she said. "You?"

"Depression."

"Ah," she said, then glanced towards the Rocker with a slightly lifted brow.

"Orphaned Autistic," the girl said. "Lost his family in the attack. They're going to send him to a foster family later today."

She nodded. She hoped that whoever he ended up with would love and take good care of him. She opened the baby name book and started flipping through it, though she suspected none of the names there would trigger any memories.

What year was it? Which hospital was she in?

"I'm Sapho," the girl said, extending a hand across the table.

Looking up, she smiled. "I'd give you a name, but I don't know it," she replied and shook her hand anyway.

"Not even a given name?" Sapho asked.

"Nothing. It fell out." That seemed to be the best explanation of what happened. Everything just fell out. Maybe more like 'got glassed' in the sudden explosion of pressure that she'd felt just before seeing Ardyn get out of the cab. She shrugged and gestured with the book. "May as well pick one out for myself in the meantime. At least this way I'll know I like it."

Sapho laughed softly. "That's a bright side," she agreed. "Let me know what you pick."

She nodded. Her fingers played with the edge of the pages.

Ardyn wasn't the only major player in this. Did she need to keep the others on track or let them do their thing? She didn't think going up to the Citadel and announcing that she knew their future was a good idea. More likely it would get her locked away. Should she keep it to herself? Should she let Ardyn find her and let him know what was supposed to happen?

Part of her kind of hoped that it was something about destiny and that she was special.

Most of her knew that was bullshit.

She wasn't supposed to exist and that knowledge... for some reason hurt?

From her peripheral, she saw a nurse approach; a different one from the stern lady. "Miss?" she said. "It's time for your appointment."

She set the book on top of the shelf before following the nurse. They went through the locked ward door and into another, parallel hall, heading left. A viewing window into the ward let her see Sapho and the Rocking Man in the common area before she had to turn right and go a short ways down the hall. The nurse opened a door to the left. Entering a large office, she glanced around, across from her, the window gave view of the same street as before and the pouring rain. Movement to her left drew her attention to the doctor who sat there. He finished writing something and looked up with a slight smile.

"Hello, I'm Doctor Viribus," the man greeted as he stood from his desk. The nurse closed the door behind her. "Please, have a seat." He gestured at his couch, one of two between her and the window. He carried a black binder with only a few papers in it.

Sitting nervously, she bounced her knees and looked at everything else in the room but him. Suddenly faced with the reality of having to talk to someone, she could feel her heart pounding. What was she supposed to say? How was she supposed to explain this? She honestly didn't remember anything but the Timeline. She couldn't talk about _that_!

"There's no need to be scared. We're just going to talk," Viribus said gently. He took the chair opposite her and crossed his legs, setting the chart on his knee and clicking his pen. "Let's start with the fourth. Can you remember what you were doing? Where you were?"

She stared at him. "What day is today?" she asked.

"The fifth," he said, as if disbelieving that she actually didn't know what day it was.

"I'd gone to a sandwich shop, I think. And stepped out, and everything exploded. Look... Uhm. Isn't there some way to look up my fingerprints? I know I've had a background check a few times..." She wiggled her fingers in demonstration, then realized how stupid it looked and lowered them to her lap again.

Viribus nodded, writing something. "The hospital tried looking. There wasn't anything conclusive."

She sighed. "What happens if we can't find any records of me?" she asked.

"Don't go borrowing trouble," Viribus said with a smile, glancing up briefly over the gold rims of his glasses.

"I mean, like... What if I'm an immigrant?"

"You'd have a paper trail somewhere if you had a job," Viribus reassured. "Do you know what your job is?"

She had recollections of being a CEO, a programmer, and a billion other things, but a lot of them had to do with government contracting work. She stared at him in silence.

Viribus waited for a long moment before writing on her chart again. "Do you know the address of your office?" he asked.

She hesitated. She could picture the building in her mind, the name of the company was on the tip of her tongue, but when she went to say it, she couldn't. "The company logo has a swoosh..." she said, drawing in the air with her finger.

"A swoosh?"

"Yeah... Blue and white colors and a swoosh." She put her hand to her face and sighed. "That's really not helpful. I'm sorry."

"Can you remember the names of people who might have been close to you?"

"I've got nothing..." She put her hands to her face and mumbled into her palms, "Fuck." She could hear his pen scribbling across the page. Like soap bubbles, every question he asked brought what might have been memories, but when she reached for them, they popped. The only names she could remember were the ones from the Timeline, and she couldn't go listing those!

"Do you remember what happened yesterday?" he asked.

"Uhm. There was an attack... I saw a giant man made of fire."

"Were you on that end of town to meet someone?" the doctor prodded.

She shook her head.

"No? You're sure?"

She shook her head again. She didn't want to say that she knew she'd been there to intercept Ardyn.

"You're sure this loss of memory started after the attack?" Viribus asked.

Lowering her hands, she couldn't meet his gaze. She shook her head.

"No, you're not sure? Or you can't remember?" he pressed, leaning forward slightly. "It _seems_ ," the tone of his voice changed from coaxing to malice, "more like you do know something and simply do not wish to say it."

Snapping her gaze up, she swallowed. "Fuck."

He smiled.

That smarmy twist of his lips made her heart sink. "I told you I would find you again. I admit, I hadn't expected my little foray into the medical field to bear fruit so quickly." Ardyn sat back in the armchair, tossing the chart to the coffee table between them as he crossed his legs. "But you're not playing by the rules. You are supposed to tell your doctor _everything_. Well, if you don't feel comfortable talking to the doctor, what about _me?_ "

She took a breath and let it out. "There's not much to say."

"Oh, but there is," Ardyn said firmly and leaned forward abruptly, both feet on the ground and hands on his knees. "You knew what Bahamute would say to me. You urged me to resist. Do you know what that cost me?"

"Pain," she said, dropping her eyes.

"Indeed. But I have to admit I owe you for the warning. So, who are you, really?"

She tipped her head back. "I honestly don't remember much. It felt like getting compressed into one place and everything extra burnt away."

"You remember _no_ names at all?"

"I remember ones that have to do with the Timeline," she said. "But not mine."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "This Timeline..."

"If I say too much, what's to keep _Him_ from overhearing and changing the rules?" she asked.

"Ah. A fair point. Can you tell me when the next event will be?"

She shook her head.

Ardyn did not look pleased by that. "Tell me... How is any of this beneficial to me?"

"Like I said on the street; you'll get what you want, but on your terms," she said.

"Bahamute said much the same thing. So why rebel?"

"Other than out of spite?" she asked. "Because, following His rules puts you back in the same position as before. You're just doing what he wants without any agency of your own. Rebelling gives you the opportunity, at the end of all this, to strike back at the one who _really_ wronged you."

"Somnus?" Ardyn asked.

She shook her head and kept her lips closed tightly.

Ardyn thought on it for a moment longer before lifting his chin and sitting back. He'd figured it out. "But you won't tell me what is to happen next, will you?"

"Nothing for a while."

"A while? As in how long?"

"Years."

"And what, pray tell, am I supposed to do until then?"

"Whatever you want."

"Might you be more specific?"

"Fuck, I don't even know what day it is and you think I'm going to know specific dates for anything else? I just know generally what's going to happen. The True King will be born, then twenty years after that, shit hits the fan."

Ardyn burst out laughing, slapping his knee. "Oh, that's a lovely turn of phrase! I'll have to use it!"

"You are way too amused by the dumbest things," she said and shook her head.

He feigned being offended. She mocked his expression.

Sighing melodramatically, Ardyn said, "I suppose I'll have to check in now and then for years to come."

She rubbed her eyes with her fingers and sighed.

"However," Ardyn said, "Leaving you here won't do. I'd have to maintain this persona and that sounds rather boring. I'll arrange for a suitable identity for you and have you released, tell them your amnesia is all cleared up." Ardyn sat back slightly, rubbing his chin in thought. "You have no preferences on what you would like to be called?"

"Not anything derogatory," she said sourly.

He snapped his fingers. "Ah. I've got it. I'll call you Linaturis Argentum. My silver lining."

She stared at him, lifting a brow.

"What? Do you not like it?"

"It's fine," she said. Honestly, it could have been worse.

Leaning forward, he took her chart off the coffee table and started writing. "Was there anything else you think I should know?" he asked.

She shook her head.

"Then, I'll get this process started and will be in touch. Do keep out of trouble in the meantime, Linaturis."

"Don't trash the city," she retorted. "I can't run fast."

He stood. "Good to know," he said with that smarmy smile. "Now, kindly vacate my office. I've got some strings to pull."

She stood, cast him a sour look, and shuffled to the door. He was still wearing the doctor's face, but that smarmy smile was unmistakably Ardyn Izunia. She couldn't help but think she'd made a deal with the Devil, and the Gods knew that was always a bad idea.

Walking herself back to the ward, she knocked on the door and stepped in when a confused nurse opened it. "Doctor decided he was done with me," she said and shrugged. Her gaze went to the table. Sapho was not there and her puzzle had been put away.

Bored, she headed over to sit on the couch next to the guy from earlier. The TV was on now at least. She had something to stare at while she thought.

The guy stared at her with an unreadable look. She just smiled at him and turned her attention to the TV. She knew she'd never seen this program before, but for some reason, she knew what was coming before it happened and that was starting to get really boring. It was like the most predictable plot in existence had been created and filmed and aired on public television. The commercials were more surprising than the actual show.

 _Linaturis Argentum_ , she thought. How weird that Ardyn had found her again so quickly. In a city of a million people, he'd found her. There were other psych hospitals, she was sure. There were a multitude of hospitals she could have been taken to after the incident. In fact, she _could_ have gotten away from the destruction for all Ardyn knew. There were possibilities on possibilities that could have happened, but the one where he found her the next day was the one that _had_ happened.

She rubbed her temples.

Noise drew her out of her thoughts. She looked up to find that a young couple had come in. The woman went to the guy seated on the couch and knelt in front of him. "Hey Leon, do you recognize me? I'm your cousin. We're going to take you home now. Okay?"

The man looked relieved and nodded a lot while the man of the pair that had entered went with the nurse towards the rooms.

Looking over, she smiled at the woman. "Glad he's got family to go back to."

"Yeah." The woman took her cousin's hand and got him to come with her.

The noise settled down again after the trio left. Staring down at her hands, she wished she could remember... Anything.

"Mind if I check your stitches?" a woman asked.

She turned to look at the nurse who stood behind her. "Sure." She turned to give the woman access to the back of her head. She felt a comb in her hair.

"This looks nearly healed," the nurse said.

"Can I wash my hair?" Lina asked.

"I don't see why not? I'll get you something new to wear."

Linaturis turned to watch the woman go, then got up to head to her room. She'd tried to take a shower at the hospital, but the mirror had shattered before she'd gotten the chance to look in it; just fell off the wall. Taking a breath, worried that the same thing would happen this time, she stepped into the bathroom and turned to face the mirror.

The mirror stayed in place.

She sighed in relief.

"Here's some soap, hun," the nurse said. "You alright?"

"Oh, yeah. Just, mirror fell off the wall last time I walked into a bathroom," Linaturis laughed. She took the soap, which were in little condiment cups she would've put ketchup in at Kenny's.

"I'll put your clean gown right here," the nurse said and put it, a towel, and washcloth on the edge of the sink.

"Thanks."

Pulling the door closed, Linaturis set the soaps down on the edge of the sink and reached back to untie her hospital gown. The body she revealed to herself was... Not what she expected. She had known her stomach had a fold, her breasts were large, hips wide, giving her a rounded hourglass shape. She'd not expected her butt to be as plump as it was. She pulled her mid-brown wavy hair over her shoulders, it just touched her collarbone. The face her hair framed was moon-shaped with a pixie nose and pouty plump lips. Her dark brown eyes, framed by dark lashes were set in an expanse of coffee-cream skin, a smattering of freckles across her cheeks and nose.

 _I'm ...cute,_ she decided. It wasn't what she was expecting. But she didn't know what she _should_ have expected.

Turning on the water, she got to cleaning herself.


	3. Released

**April 10, 734**

She stared at her Lucian Citizen ID card, sunlight reflecting off the laminated surface. They moved pretty quickly on this stuff, apparently. Or Ardyn had just body-jacked someone else. It disgusted her to know that she'd only gotten anywhere here on the backs of dead people.

_Name: Linaturis Argentum_

_Birth Date: 22/04/712_

_Sex: Female_

_Height: 5'4"_

_Hair: Brown_

_Eyes: Brown_

Not just an ID, though. He'd gotten her a bank card and an address too.

_Apt. 404, 5620 Hollow Ave._

All the better to keep tabs on her, she supposed.

She stood outside the Psych hospital, released within a few days of being admitted on orders of "Doctor Viribus" also known as Ardyn. Having no clothes except the ones she'd arrived in, she had put the bloody and soot-covered dress back on and left the hospital with a packet of papers that contained discharge orders and the ID she was currently staring at. It didn't feel real.

The worst part was that she felt... Helpless. She felt like an alien that had studied this world for a long time and generally knew how things worked but she didn't actually have any experience, despite knowing that technically she was somewhere near thirty years old (maybe) and had held jobs in the past (unverifiable) and probably had family out there who were worried about her (?). On an intellectual level, she knew she would need to figure out some things quick; how to navigate a big city, live in an apartment, and find a job. The last was most important because she highly doubted Ardyn had given her enough money to just _live_ off of. Besides, she wanted to stow some away to make her getaway when Shit Hit the Fan in twenty years. She wasn't going to just sit in Insomnia when the Nifs dropped Weapons on it after all. She planned on being out of town well before that.

Gods. In twenty years, she'd be fifty and fully incapable of participating in any of the fun stuff. Not that there was much room for a chubby nobody like herself in the narrative anyway. Her role in all this was merely to put Ardyn on the right path. That much she knew, and she'd already fulfilled that role, which made her question why she was still around and why she'd been given knowledge of the rest of the Timeline.

People glanced at her and hurried on, obviously put off by the state of her clothes. Feeling adrift in a sea of life she had no business messing with, she turned her attention to the bank card: First Bank of Lucii. Right.

"One thing at a time," she told herself. She needed to know how much money she had, since Ardyn was so nice as to open an account for her. Thinking through what she thought she knew of the city didn't help her locate where the bank would have been.

She picked a random direction and started walking. Maybe by luck she'd stumble across a branch.

Clutching the packet of papers to her chest, important cards in the pocket of her dress, she gazed up at the buildings. Insomnia really was a beautiful city, one of the statues of the Old Wall towered over the street she was on. She couldn't remember who it was supposed to be, but felt like she knew them on a personal level.

"Miss," a man's voice called from behind her, "Are you alright?"

She stopped and looked around to find a man dressed in a business suit standing in front of a sandwich shop. He had dark hair and she thought a familiar pair of lips. "Uh... Yeah... I just need directions?"

He approached closer and stopped to look her over. "You look like you've been through a war."

"That was last week," she said and smiled. "This week is amnesia. Which way to the bank?"

He didn't find her joke funny. "Are you sure you shouldn't be in the hospital?"

"Just got out," she said. "Really. I need to go to the bank. Because I don't remember how much is in my account and obviously, I need new clothes. So, if you could point the way that'd be great."

"I'll take you there?" he offered.

Unable to stop her face from just doing its thing, she looked away, knowing her ears and cheeks were turning red. "Nah. I'm like... Okay. Really. I just need directions. Thanks for stopping, though. And offering. I mean..." She unconsciously started scratching the back of her neck anxiously and hastily brought her hand down to grip her fingers instead. She suddenly felt naked without even a purse to hold.

"It's not a problem, really," he said. "You must have gotten caught in the attack the other day..."

"Yeah," she admitted and stared at his face. He was a handsome enough man, she supposed, in a skinny, nerdy way, but she really didn't have any idea what to do with that kind of thing. Also, the thought that this might be Ardyn again hung at the back of her mind.

He stood there awkwardly for a moment more. "There's a bank three blocks north of here," he said finally.

She bit her lower lip as she thought about that. Three blocks was a long way to walk, and getting lost was something she was pretty good at. He started to step back. "Wait... Uhm. I need to replace my cellphone and some other things I lost in the attack... And I can't remember where the stores for those are either..." Accepting help wasn't a bad thing. She could do it. Besides, she was an adult who could make adult decisions about talking to strangers.

The man seemed relieved, now that he had permission to rescue her.

She despised needing to be rescued but put on a smile anyway.

"I'm Tertius."

"I'm... Lina." It felt weird and wrong, but better than that mouthful of a name Ardyn had given her. She felt she could answer to it easily enough.

"That's an odd name," he said.

"Linaturis, but I prefer Lina."

Tertius nodded in understanding. He moved to walk beside her. "That attack came out of nowhere..." he said.

"Not one for light topics, are you?" she mused.

"Oh. I guess you wouldn't want to talk about it," Tertius said and rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "I wasn't anywhere near it so..."

"So, you have two older siblings?" she asked instead.

"What?"

"Your name. Tertius, means third. Right?"

"Oh, yeah. But no, I'm an only child. What about you?"

"Youngest of two girls," she said, then realized she couldn't remember her sister's name and the only thing coming to mind was 'Amelia' which didn't sound right either.

The man nodded. "I always wanted a sister," he said and laughed nervously.

She snorted. "So that's why you help random girls on the street?"

Tertius flushed. "Ah! No - I mean... You looked lost and like... Well." He gestured vaguely.

Smiling she glanced up at him. "It's alright. I'm just not used to being the one in need of help." She looked down at the sidewalk. It was remarkably clean; no litter or bubblegum. People were a respectful distance from each other. The air itself smelled clean. Her shoes, while flats, were already starting to rub at her ankles and heels. This was going to be a long walk.

"You said you have amnesia?"

"Yeah." She cleared her throat. "Got a concussion and it rattled things around. Like, I recognize stuff, but I don't know where I am."

"You're taking it pretty well," Tertius said.

She shrugged. "What's the use of getting upset about it? Won't make memories come back faster. Just wastes a lot of energy that could be spent elsewhere." To be honest, she was still kind of numb. "Or maybe I'm dead and this is all a dream? In any case, I'm just going to roll with it and see what happens. I guess."

He shook his head. "You're a strong woman," he said in admiration.

Rolling her eyes, she shook her head. Arguing with him seemed pointless. Ahead, she saw the intersection for the end of the first block. Two more to go. And a lot more small talk.

"So, you have a job? What day is it? Shouldn't you be working?"

"I actually work at the bank we're going to. I was on lunch," Tertius said.

She nodded. Nice, a stable job.

Wait.

This was not a date.

She pushed the thought aside. "Ah. That's why you were insisting on coming with me. Otherwise it'd look weird you just... Walking behind after I turned you down."

Tertius gave an embarrassed laugh, rubbing the back of his head again. "Yeah," he admitted.

"But really, what day is it?" she asked.

"Friday."

"Would you indulge me asking what year and month?"

"April tenth, seven-thirty-four," Tertius said.

She nodded. Squinting at the sky as she mentally did some math, she remembered Ardyn had made her birth year 712. He'd taken a few years off. Nice, she supposed, but an ID card didn't make her any less in her thirties. Maybe it was an honest mistake? She did look pretty young. Even if she couldn't remember her exact age, or birthday. Mildly irritated by the massive blanks in her memory, she looked away from Tertius so he didn't think her expression was due to him.

"You really must have had it knocked out of you..." he said in wonder.

"Yeah," she said, figuring the less she said on it, the better, and also having lost track of what he was saying while doing her mental math.

"And you're just up, walking around?"

She shrugged, glancing up at him. "I got stitches, they released me, other than having some trouble remembering stuff, I'm fine otherwise. I guess." Though she wondered at Ardyn just writing her release so flippantly. Maybe she did need to be in the hospital longer? Who knew what kind of damage getting knocked around had done?

They passed a shop window with clothes in it. She mentally marked it for later and hoped those clothes weren't too expensive.

"Uhm. I suspect I might have need of a job, do you know anyone hiring?" she asked.

"What kind of skills do you have?"

"Organization, attention to detail," she rattled off. " Though I may have rattled some things and might need to relearn basic word processing programs and such, but I learn fast when given a task and examples to follow."

"You're looking for office work, then?"

"Preferably," she agreed. She vaguely remembered being witness to a lot of politics.

"What about your old job?"

"I don't know if it's still standing?" She cringed, feeling like that excuse was a little flimsy. "Besides, it was close to the..." she gestured vaguely. "I think I want some distance from there..."

Tertius nodded in understanding.

She disliked lying. It meant she would have to remember what she'd lied about.

"I think I know someone who may need an administrative assistant."

Yuck!

She kept her face neutral by sheer determination. "I can do that," she said instead.

* * *

Ardyn pulled his phone from his pocket on the third ring, hit the receive button, but remained silent.

"Ardyn? Are you there?" Verstael's voice. "Ardyn?"

"Is there a reason you keep incessantly calling me?" Ardyn asked finally.

"Yes. You've yet to report back. It has been more than a week since the attack. Are you _that_ upset about it?"

Closing his eyes, Ardyn leaned back on the park bench. He had been wandering the city for days, getting things in order for Linaturis. He'd taken the lives of several more people in order to facilitate acquiring a bank account, ID, and apartment, but doing so had left him a little muddled and he'd needed some time to recollect his own thoughts and memories. The _Blessings_ of the Gods were rotten indeed...

He really had gone through a lot of trouble for her, Ardyn reflected as Verstael continued talking, his voice small and tinny from the phone speaker where the device sat on the bench beside him. She'd only repeated the information Bahamute had told him: The True King would be born soon. That really wasn't helpful, though. He knew more from the visions Bahamute had shown him, that the True King would be born to Regis. He'd seen the True King's face before he shattered into pieces, soul destroyed along with the power he'd used to rid the world of Ardyn and the Starscourge.

However, Ardyn was betting that she knew a lot more. Given the head trauma she'd gone through, he figured giving her time to put her thoughts back together was the best course of action. He could have tortured the information he wanted out of her, except there was no guarantee that it would be what he needed to know. He also could have daemonified her, but he wasn't sure if he would get her memories in any coherent order if she was less than fully functional when he did it.

Thus he had chosen to play with her for a little while. After all, she knew who and what he was and seemed to have a healthy dose of fear. Unlike Verstael...

He considered telling Verstael about the woman, about Bahamute, about everything, but considering what Verstael had done with the information he'd already been given over the last twelve years... Ardyn just felt tired of giving him everything and hardly getting anything out of the relationship other than constantly interrogated.

"Ardyn! Are you listening?" Verstael shouted, reminding him that the phone was still connected.

"I have a lot on my mind," Ardyn said finally, "I would like some peace to think about it." He hung up and put the phone on silent before putting it back into his pocket.

He'd done what he was told to do his whole life. He'd been told to be a good boy by his mother. He'd been told to make his father proud. He'd been told to heal his people with his Gods given gift. He'd been told to take the throne. He'd been told to say in his prison on Angelguard...

Lately, he'd been following Verstael's orders to manipulate Iedolas, getting Verstael funding for his daemon army. He'd been egging Iedolas into attacking Lucis... And lastly, he'd been told to rebel against his Fate.

Now Verstael wanted him to come back to the lab.

What did _Ardyn_ want, though?

His melancholic mood deepened.

That woman knew the future. He couldn't doubt or deny it since she had seen through his illusions to know who he was the first time she laid eyes on him. Though he'd tested to see if she could just see through his illusions with the doctor, but she could not. Therefore, she must have known that he would be wearing that particular disguise, or known that he would be stepping out of a cab right there on that corner.

She had known about his intent to fight Regis. She'd known he wouldn't be allowed to kill the man and what Bahamute would say.

So... If he followed what she said, where would that lead him? Right back to just doing what he was told. Although, she'd not told him _much_ of what to do, so avoiding doing what she wanted was nearly impossible if he didn't know what she wanted done.

Ardyn curled his lips in annoyance, irritated at himself since he didn't know what he would do otherwise anyway. Was there a point in fighting Fate if everything just circled back to it? Why should he follow her directions instead of Bahamute's? Getting to his feet, he decided to go pay her a visit. Maybe she'd gotten to her new apartment by now.

On the bright side, she could at least promise that he would get to take revenge on the one who had _really_ wronged him: Bahamute. Was that a greater prize than ending the Lucis line? Or would he be allowed to do that _too_? Bahamute had only promised that the line of Lucis would end when the True King used the power of the Ring to summon the old kings and kill Ardyn. Never mind that all of this had happened because Bahamute had decided to play games with the lives of mortals.

At least he had a ray of hope in all this shit; Linaturis Argentum. If he could get her to tell him how it was supposed to end, then he'd be able to plan accordingly and determine what his next move would be.

So far, his only plan was to fill the world with daemons and miasma.


	4. Adulting

She couldn't have said the denomination of currency she had been expecting, but Yen wasn't it. The prices were different too. Much higher than she would have thought, and Ardyn hadn't given her much. Visiting that shop she'd seen, she decided to go somewhere else to find clothes when she had seen the prices. Stumbling on a cheaper store, she'd had enough for a few cute outfits, a new pair of shoes that weren't rubbing the shit out of her heels, and a cellphone plan. Tertius had gone back to work after helping her getting into her account at the bank. Still, she felt it in her soul when she signed the receipt for two-thousand Yen just to buy a couple shirts.

However, she did go back after getting her phone to give Tertius her number. If he could follow through on getting her a job, then he'd need to be able to contact her.

As weird as it felt giving a guy she just met her number.

Next, she climbed into a cab and asked to be taken to her apartment.

She hoped it wouldn't be a trash hole... It was six more blocks from the psych hospital, four from the bank Tertius worked at.

Swiping her card on the cabbie's pad, she paid for her ride and climbed out, dragging her bags across the seat with her. Closing the car door, she turned to look up at the grey stone building. It looked nice on the outside, if a bit plain. But everything in Insomnia seemed to be relatively nice. She'd not seen a shitty building yet. Heading to the door, she paused, wondering how she was going to get into her apartment. Ardyn hadn't given her any keys...

She took a breath, squared her shoulders, and walked up the steps, opening the door. The foyer was nice, still in keeping with the well-kept façade. To the immediate left was a desk, ahead, a flight of stairs, and to the right, elevators.

"Excuse me," a woman at the desk said. "You need to be a resident to come in here."

"Uh... Yeah..." She stepped over to the desk, setting down her bags and digging in the small purse she'd bought to get her ID. "I think I do..."

The woman took the card, then turned to her computer to type briefly. "Oh. You're Miss Argentum." She handed the ID back and opened a drawer in her desk. Something about that name made her wonder, but the woman's next words distracted her from following through on the thought. "Your father said you'd be by today." She held out a set of keys, followed by a paper.

Dreading what was on the paper, she tucked it into her purse with her ID. "Thanks." Crouching, she picked up her bags and went to the elevator, then stopped and went back to the desk. "Uhm. What's your name?"

"Oh," the woman looked up from her computer. "I'm Flos."

"I'm Lina," she said and extended a hand over the desk. "Nice to meet you. Uh. Are pets allowed here? Also, do you need an emergency contact number for me?"

"Yes, and yes," Flos said, tapping on her computer again after shaking hands. "Small pets up to thirty pounds, excluding rodents and snakes. There's a deposit fee, though. What's your phone number?"

Shuffling her bags again, she got into her purse to pull out her cellphone. Fumbling to get to the contact card, she recited her number. It wasn't nearly as easy to remember as her old number. She also didn't outright own the phone like she was used to, but had to rent it as part of her plan. Though she didn't really clearly remember purchasing her old phone or what her old number was.

Flos nodded. "Would you like the front desk number?" she offered.

"Yeah. Probably," she said and tapped on her phone to create a new contact, adding it to Tertius' lonely listing. Flos gave her the number in return. Saving it, she tucked her phone away again. "I'm probably going to end up with a cat, just so you know."

"That's fine," Flos said.

"Okay. Uhm. Bye. For real this time," she laughed awkwardly and backed away, heading to the elevator again. Once in the elevator, she sighed. "God I'm stupid," she muttered and pressed the button for the fourth floor. Amusing that her apartment was 404.

Once the doors opened, she stepped into the hallway. The old hardwood floor sprawling out ahead and to the right in an L intersection. To the right were apartments 406 through 410. Heading straight, she walked past apartment 405 and stopped in front of the door to 404.

Nervous once more about what she was walking into, she took out her key and fit it into the lock. Opening it, she bit her lower lip. The apartment was hardwood, like the hall. It looked like an older hotel, remodeled in the last twenty years to be apartments. At least the ceilings were high, giving the room a rich-feeling quality that otherwise was lacking. The dark green paint was scuffed and flaking from the walls, a decidedly musty smell hung in the air, and the two curtained windows on the far wall did little to illuminate the small living room.

Reaching beside the door, she found a switch and flicked it. The lightbulb above the door popped. Stepping in, she closed the door and locked it, setting down her bags to go open the curtains. She tripped on a sofa along the way, then yanked the curtains aside to cast light upon the shabby couch and coffee table. She sighed.

"It's what I can afford," she told herself. "And gift horses with smarmy smirks..."

Taking off her shoes, she sat on the couch to inspect the back of her heels. She'd given herself blisters on both feet. Getting up again, she headed for the small kitchen, finding an old fridge, gas stove, and microwave. No oven, though. At least she had an island counter top, since there wasn't much room for food prep between the stove and sink.

Rubbing her upper lip to scratch, she opened the fridge.

Empty.

Opening the cupboards, she found them empty as well.

A single door to the left of the kitchen led into a bedroom in which there was a bedframe with no mattress. The attached bathroom and closet were tiny; just a shower stall, toilet, and sink. No washer or dryer. No dresser. No clothes hangers, for that matter. No soap, toothbrush, food...

Heading back out to the living room, she sat down on the couch and got her phone out to look at her online banking app. Given the prices... She might be able to afford a week's worth of food if it were cheap, but she didn't have enough for a mattress, for sure. Maybe a flat sheet and she could sleep on the couch. It wasn't that bad... A little lumpy...

A knock on the door startled her into nearly dropping her brand-new phone. Fumbling to catch it, she clutched it against her chest as she stood. Going to the door, she stood on her toes to peek out the peep hole, then sighed as she recognized the floofy hair and hat. Unlocking the bolt, she opened the door.

Ardyn, finally wearing his own face, turned to smile at her, holding out a bouquet of flowers. "Lovely to see you, my dear Linaturis. May I come in?"

Rolling her eyes, she stepped back and gestured.

"How do you like it?" he asked, gesturing with a wide sweep of his hand at the apartment.

She closed the door. "It's better than the street. So, thank you."

"Ah, do forgive me," Ardyn said. "I wasn't aware of your standards."

She waved her hand. "It's good enough for now," she said and watched as he placed the flowers on the counter and set a grocery bag next to it. "Thank you," she said, sincerely.

"I noticed you'd already gone through the stipend I gave you," Ardyn said as he strolled around the room, his boot heels thumping on the floor. Her downstairs neighbors were going to hate her.

"I'm rebuilding a whole life," she pointed out. "I can't wear the same dirty dress every day. Especially not if I get a job."

"A job?" Ardyn mused. "Ah, you are full of surprises. Here I thought you'd be content to live off my generosity."

"I like being independent," she said.

"Free to disappear if the whim strikes you," Ardyn said coldly. "You know I'm not going to allow that."

She shrugged. "Take it how you want to. I just don't like depending on some man to fix all my problems." She looked away.

"It seems," Ardyn mused, "That you might have some baggage there... You hardly seem old enough for that kind of experience."

"Oh, yeah. Thanks for that," she said.

Ardyn leaned back slightly, then tipped his head in curiosity.

"I'm flattered you thought I was twenty-two," she said and smirked.

"Don't tell me you're as old as me?" Ardyn asked, pressing a hand to his chest. "Dear!"

"Bah. No, I'm not two-thousand and something."

"Now I'm curious, how old are you?" Ardyn asked.

"That's for me to know and you not to," she decided and smirked at him as she turned to the grocery bag on the counter. Opening it, she pulled out some canned soups, sodas, and cup noodles. She put the soda in the fridge and stacked the soup in one of the cupboards before turning to him and asking, "May I have a little more money? I'm going to need at least a bed sheet and blanket and some silverware. Kinda hard to eat cup noodles with my hands."

"Only if you say please," Ardyn teased.

With as straight a face as she could muster, she looked him in the eyes and said, "Please Daddy?"

She was rewarded with his startled flinch. He put a hand over his mouth and turned away, disgusted. Unable to help herself, she doubled over laughing so hard she made no sound and ended up crouching on the floor, gripping the edge of the counter. Unable to keep her balance, she knelt, thumping her forehead against the cupboard side.

Wiping her eyes, she looked up to find Ardyn standing with one hand over his eyes and the other on his hip, shaking his head. "Let's agree on you never saying that again," Ardyn said.

Collapsing further to the floor in laughter, she squeaked and snorted.

Gasping for air a few times, she wiped her eyes with her hands and pushed off the floor, using the counter to hoist herself up.

"You..." he pointed a finger at her, then closed his mouth, unable to figure out what to say. "You are not my type," he said finally.

Waving her hand, she wiped her eyes again. "I know, I know. You're still in love with her." She flapped her hand on her wrist at him. Sniffling, she straightened. "So, may I borrow some money, Ardyn? Please?"

He grumpily stared at her; mouth twisted in a scowl as he stared down his nose. "You may," he said.

"I'll try to have a job by the end of next week," she said and sighed. "Even if it's cashier," she cringed.

He didn't look too thrilled at that either. Pulling out his cellphone, Ardyn used one finger in a deliberate poking; making a show of using technology he was not accustomed to. "There. You have your money," he said. "Now, where's my information?"

She stared at him. "Huh?"

"I've paid you, now you tell me something."

"Polar bears have black skin but they appear white because their hair is clear hollow tubes."

He stared at her.

She stared at him, trying not to smirk.

"That... was not the information I needed, nor wanted," he said.

"But it's the information you got," she said.

"Tell me something about the future," Ardyn said, shifting his weight and folding his arms.

"It will probably not rain tomorrow," she said.

He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, tipped his chin down. Dropping his arms to his sides, he walked to the door, slammed it open, and closed it firmly behind.

"My neighbors are going to hate me..." She shook her head.


	5. Thrifty

**April 11, 734**

With the extra money Ardyn had given her, she'd gotten not only silverware and some cups, but the laptop and lounge clothes, as well as a few other essentials, like makeup and fresh food.

Bet he was still regretting _that_ purchase. She snickered and muttered "Polar bears..."

Armed with a glass of water and a brand-new laptop, she logged into the internet connection that came with the apartment.

The OS was not... What she expected. The start menu was on the wrong side, the icons weren't the same, the start noise and error ping weren't right. Nothing about this was right. And yet, she still moved around the desktop like she'd grown up using the technology, even if she had no memory at all of a childhood.

It had been a week since Founder's Day. It still didn't feel real. It all seemed far away and mixed together.

She needed some cute ass kittens to look at.

She typed CATS in the address bar and pressed enter.

Blessed images of adorable fluff-butts appeared on her screen and she sighed.

"At least one thing is constant... Humanity's obsession with cats doing stupid shit." She scrolled down the page for a moment before going back to the address bar to type LOCAL JOBS. She paused to get her ID to see what her address was again.

A page of results appeared. She started scrolling through them before coming to the realization that she was so fucked.

"I gotta write a resume first..." she muttered. These 'but firsts' were killing her.

Rubbing her forehead, she opened a word processing file and started by entering her new name. It still didn't feel right. Linaturis Argentum... Wasn't that Prompto's last name too? In any case, it wasn't her problem right now.

"Okay... Skills." She muttered and looked through her computer. "Okay. Back to the internet." She opened another tab on her browser to search for Resumes to look at. "Ugh, this sucks." She had no idea what to put on her resume since none of her experience was verifiable. She couldn't even say where she'd worked, for how long, or doing what. On the bright side, her "legal" age was 22, which meant her apparent lack of experience wouldn't be questioned so harshly.

Her phone pinged.

Reaching over, she picked it up to look, finding a text message.

**Tertius** : Are you free for lunch?

She sighed, thought about it, then typed a reply. "Sure. As long as you're prepared for more stupid questions."

His response took a moment.

**Tertius** : Your questions aren't stupid.

She rolled her eyes. "Where should we meet?"

**Tertius** : Old Wall Café.

He helpfully sent the location.

Unsure of how long it would take her to get there, she clicked the location and fumbled the apps before figuring out how to get the directions to appear. "Good Gods I feel old," she muttered. "I hate this." She texted back, "I can be there in thirty."

Closing her laptop, she set it on the couch beside her and stood.

Going to the bedroom, she changed into one of her new outfits, grabbed shoes from the closet floor and put them on as she headed for the kitchen counter where she'd left her purse. Pulling the strap over her shoulder, she dug in it for the keys and traded them with the phone. Apartment living hadn't been so bad thus far. Her neighbors had been quiet last night. Sleeping on the couch hadn't been comfortable at all, though, and the weird noises kept waking her up.

Without a cat to blame it on, she was left with no other explanation than Ghosts.

"I need to Cleanse this place," she muttered as she unbolted the door, stepped out, and locked it behind her. "Ugh. I need cleaning supplies still. I need a washing machine," she muttered under her breath as she turned, heading for the elevator. Silently, she wondered if could easily find one of those bathtub washing machines. She remembered seeing commercials for them.

Keys tucked into her purse, she pulled her cellphone again and stepped out into the lobby. Flos was at her station. She waved at the woman. Flos waved back, though she looked distracted by her computer. Maybe she was watching internet videos.

"I need friends," she muttered once she was outside in the sunlight and wondered how Sapho was doing. She'd been released the day Lina arrived. "Or I'm going to go insane." She checked the directions on her phone and started walking. Down a block, then right at the corner and a left, across the street. Not too far. But still more walking than she was used to. "At least I'll lose weight like this," she said and started. "Silver linings indeed."

Keeping her wits about her, a hand on her purse, and her eyes moving, she took note of the stores and businesses she passed. There was a small grocery store on the corner of the block, next to a takeout place. A thrift store across the street caught her eye. "Oh perfect!" she enthused. That would be her first stop on the way home. Maybe she could get a mattress and box spring for the bed? Pillows, she refused to compromise on, though, and would get those new.

Reaching the intersection she needed to go left at, she waited for the green cactuar and walked across with a man walking his bike.

That was an idea. Though how much would she actually use it? Would it be a pain to get up and down the stairs? She filed the thought away for later. It was easier to just walk; less gear to deal with. Ahead, she could see the café tables set on the sidewalk and what she suspected was the back of Tertius' head. Approaching, she walked past the table and looked at the man's face only to find it wasn't him.

"Lina," a man called. She looked over to find Tertius stepping out of the cafe's open door.

She smiled. "Hi."

He wasn't wearing his suit today. Instead, he was in khakis and a polo. It was Saturday, so she supposed he was off for the weekend, but did he really need to dress up like that still? Then again, Lina had worn something nice too...

Coming up to her he hesitated. "Hi... Uh, thanks for coming out so..." He rubbed the back of his head nervously.

Amused, she adjusted her purse strap. "I was just getting ready to write a resume and get to job hunting. So my stupid questions were going to be in regards to that."

"Oh," Tertius said. "That wouldn't be stupid." He stepped back and gestured for her to enter the cafe. Heading in, she glanced around the cafe to get the layout. It was built for dining in and had actual food. Going to the counter, she stared at the menu in thought, deciding on the cheapest soup and salad with a drink, since that was barely within her budget. Tertius stood nervously beside her, fidgeting with his hands in his pockets. It was cute, she supposed. And awkward. Mostly awkward, though. She had the distinct feeling he was lying to her.

Her turn came. She stepped up, told the barista her order and pulled out her card to pay, finding the note she'd gotten with her keys yesterday.

Tertius reached over and blocked her. "Ah, no... I'll get it. I'll have the roast sandwich and chips," he said and swiped his card.

Feeling even more awkward, she slowly put her card back into her purse and followed Tertius over to a booth to sit and wait for their food. "Thanks," she said.

Shifting in his seat, Tertius tapped his heel on the floor a little. "You're welcome, I mean... Uh..."

Shaking her head, she opened the note to read it. Ardyn's archaic handwriting looked like an art form of its own. He'd written a phone number. _Should you wish to talk._ She added the contact to her phone and stuck the note into her purse.

She cleared her throat. "So... Resumes," she said, "I don't have much experience that I can remember to put down, so what could I put instead?"

"Ah, any volunteer work," Tertius said, "I talked to my friend and he said he'd give you a chance if you're free to interview on Monday."

"Yeah. My schedule is wide open right now," she said. "What business is it for? Position?"

"Administrative assistant for a temp agency," Tertius said.

Typing notes on her phone, she nodded. "Name of the business? Your friend's name?"

"Odin Staffing, his name is Aven Venari."

She continued to nod as she typed. "Okay. Thanks!" She smiled at Tertius, sending the email to herself and putting her phone away. "I'll do some research when I get home. If I get this, I'll really owe you."

Tertius waved a hand with a nervous laugh. "No, no... It's okay. You needed help. I'm just glad to be in a position to... Ah... Well. Help..."

She looked away, gazing out across the café. There were a few other people there, more coming in as the lunch hour began, though most were choosing to sit outside, since the weather was nice. As she'd predicted, it would not rain today. "Know what's scary?" she asked softly. She turned to look at Tertius. "Meeting eyes with a god as he walks by, kicking cars like they're kids' toys."

Tertius swallowed.

"I guess it didn't really... Occur to me... How close to dying I was." She could feel her heart rate picking up and tears pricked her eyes. She took a napkin and dabbed as she tried to get hold of her emotions. "Haha," she put on a smile to hide her trembling. "Could be worse, I guess."

"Worse? How?" Tertius asked in a small voice.

"We could've been attacked by a giant fat chocobo. I mean, at least I've got a cool story out of this." She gave him finger guns and a wink.

He palmed his face.

Distraction arrived at last. The barista placed their food on the table and set out the drinks. Taking a breath of the steamy coffee, she savored the first sip. "So, what do you do for fun?" she asked, taking her fork and stabbing a piece of salad to dip into the side cup of dressing.

"I ah. Well... I don't really... Do much. Just watch TV."

She nodded, already losing interest in him. He was cute, but once more, she was confronted with a man whose personality was about as interesting as oatmeal.

"What about you?"

"Read, write, sleep, make work for myself," she said after swallowing. "Shop at thrift stores."

"Thrift stores?"

"You can find some pretty cool stuff sometimes. My mother used to hunt for signed paintings or numbered lithographs. People will donate brand new stuff sometimes too."

He picked up his sandwich carefully and took a bite.

The awkward silence continued as he ate and stared at her. Lina took another bite of salad and let her gaze wander. On the wall opposite, the cafe had hung a TV. It was tuned to a news channel, talking about the Founder's Day attack and how King Regis had not made any official statements on it, nor had he been seen in days. The only one out speaking publicly was Cor Leonis. His statements were cold and curt, stating that they would repair the damage and strengthen security at the city checkpoints to prevent something like this from happening again. He didn't know what that giant fiery daemon had been, or how it had been controlled or brought out in the daylight, but he was going to see that the city was fortified against another attack like that.

She shook her head. Anyone with eyes who had seen it knew that was Ifrit. People were undoubtedly asking questions.

"Why would a God attack Insomnia?" someone at the next table over asked.

This caught Tertius' attention, he looked back at the man, then back at Lina. "You're sure it was the Infernian you saw?" he asked.

"Giant man on fire with horns," she said. "I don't know who else it could have been."

"The Marshall hasn't said it was the Infernian, so it must have been a Nif weapon of some kind," Tertius said and shook his head. "Besides. Only the King can Summon the Gods. King Regis certainly didn't do it."

Deciding to let the subject drop, she looked down at her salad.

"You must have been hallucinating what you saw. You did have a head injury," Tertius said.

"Me and a few hundred other people," she muttered, getting tired of his attitude. But, he'd helped her and thus, she was required to be polite. Stupid social contracts and such. She looked at the time on her phone and worked on finishing her soup and salad faster as she thought about some excuse to get on with her day.

Tertius was taking his time, though, methodically chewing each bite of his sandwich a set number of times before swallowing. At least he chewed with his mouth closed.

Lost in thought, she stared at him. He really wasn't bad looking, he made good money, he obviously liked her even if he hadn't actually come out and said it. That was the problem, though, he was being sneaky about the whole thing and she didn't like it. The ever-present oppressing aura of his ulterior motives just grated on her nerves.

"Did you have plans after this?" she asked.

"Not really... Did you?" he asked.

"I was going to go shopping. There are still some things I need for my place."

"Your place?" he asked. "Didn't you already have a place?"

She hesitated, unsure of how to explain her situation. "It got destroyed. So I moved down near here," she said finally. "My father picked it out for me, but I don't think he actually looked at the apartment before he signed for it." After all, Ardyn _had_ told Flos he was her father. "There isn't anything in there but a lumpy couch and a coffee table." There. Enough of the truth to cover. Though why _was_ she covering for Ardyn? It wasn't like he gave two shits about his reputation... But answering questions about him seemed more of a pain in the ass.

Not that Tertius would have believed her if she said "Yeah, Adagium is my Sugar Daddy because I know his future."

At least Tertius didn't look too eager to go about buying her a bed, among other things.

Instead, he asked, "Do you have the money for that?"

"I'll figure something out," she said. "Don't worry about it."

"Do you need help?"

"Nope. I'll be fine," she insisted.

"I've got a spare room in my apartment," Tertius said.

"No, that's okay. Really," she insisted, waving her hand to try to flick that thought out of his head. Living with Tertius when Ardyn was likely to come skulking around at any moment was not something she wanted to deal with or explain. "I'll make do."

"Do you need help buying anything?" Tertius asked.

"No. It's okay. I've got a budget and I'll make it last until I've gotten a job," she insisted. Irritated, she wished he would stop.

The lightbulb above their booth snapped and went dark, startling Tertius. His arm pulled back, sweeping his drink off the table and into his lap. "Ah- crap," he said and hurried to pick his water up.

Getting up, she went to find napkins and returned to scatter some across the mess on the table and hand more for him to put into his lap. "You should go home and get changed," she suggested.

"I was going to go with you..."

"Shopping? In wet pants?" she asked. "Can't see how that'd be comfortable."

"It's just water."

She considered throwing her coffee on him, but she'd already finished that. "But it looks a little... Uh..." she tipped her head slightly in a suggestive gesture.

Tertius caught her meaning and went white slightly, then frowned. "It's just water."

"Take care of yourself," she said and patted his shoulder. "I'll take care of me. Thank you for lunch, but I've got a lot to do today. Resume won't write itself, after all." She backed away and waved before turning and hurrying out the door, glad to take her opportunity to escape. It wasn't that he wasn't _nice_. It was just... something she couldn't put her finger on.

Hurrying down the street, she headed back towards the intersection and took a right to hunt down that thrift store she'd seen earlier.

The sign was sooner than she expected and she almost walked past the door before catching herself. Stopping, she opened it, ringing the bell hung on the handle. Dimly lit and tightly packed, the thrift store was everything she'd hoped for and more. Chests of drawers stood stacked immediately to her right, straight ahead, two rows of clothing racks so packed with clothes there was no room for more, they had to be piled on top. The walls on either side were stacked with tables, couches, and all manner of furniture she couldn't see clearly.

To her left, a frail old woman stood. How she'd gotten there without making a sound...?

Wheezing as she caught her squeak of surprise, she turned to face the old woman.

"Hello dear," the woman said and smiled. "Looking for anything in particular?"

"Clothes and maybe a portable washing machine?" she asked.

"Hmm..." The old woman scratched her spidery fingers in her short white curls and shuffled off. "You just get looking for some clothes, dear and I'll see if I can find a washing machine." Shuffling away, her feet barely lifting from the floor as she moved, the woman went to the other side of the tightly packed room.

Gleefully heading to her task, she started picking through the clothes, first looking for anything in colors she might like. Her pile on top of the rack grew quickly, then parred down as she looked more closely at the items she'd picked, determining which ones were too small and weren't actually that cute on second thought.

"You're just in luck, dear," the old woman's cracked voice said directly to her right.

Again, she nearly jumped out of her skin. How did the old woman move so silently? Surely there hadn't been anyone there moments ago!

Holding out a small twenty gallon bucket shaped contraption with trailing hoses, the old woman asked, "I believe this is what you were looking for?"

"Yes!" she said. "Thank you! It's perfect!" Putting down her pile of clothes, she took the bucket from the old woman and opened it to check what the inside looked like. Lucky her, it seemed to be in good shape, maybe barely used at that. Turning to look out the dusty window to the street, she found that it was nearly evening now and she still had other things to do. She couldn't afford to spend all day and all her money here. Taking the clothes she'd selected and bucket, she headed to the counter beside the front door, following the old woman there as she shuffled slowly.

Getting behind the counter, the old woman perched on her stool and slowly started ringing up the items on the counter. "What's your name, dear?"

It took a moment. "Lina," she said finally remembering what her name was supposed to be.

The old woman's hands stilled. She looked over the gold rims of her thick glasses and arched a brow.

"I got a good hit to the head recently and it's been difficult remembering a lot of things," she said.

"Well," the old woman said, "If Lina is what you want to be called, then that's just fine."

Looking down at her hands as she leaned on the counter. It wasn't the name she'd chosen... But did anyone really have choice in their names? "I just... Wish it was the name I'd been given at birth... Instead of just... Given because I needed to be called _something_ ," she admitted.

"Dear," the old woman reached out to pat her hand, drawing Lina's gaze back to her thin face. "The name doesn't matter so much as what it defines. What do you want 'Lina' to mean?"

Pressing her lips together, she looked in the woman's rheumy eyes. "I'm not sure I get it," she admitted.

"Who do you want to be?" the woman asked. "You can't remember who you were, so who do you want to be now?"

"Oh..." Nodding slowly, Lina looked down again. "I want to be capable of taking care of myself," she said finally. "I want... To explore the world and see everything humanity has created for myself." She smiled.

"Then Lina is an adventurer," the old woman said and sat back, continuing to ring up the items on her counter. "It's good to meet you Lina. I'm Frigga."

Lina smiled. "I'm probably going to be in here a lot. I'll have to wait for my next paycheck to shop some more."

Frigga gave her a kindly smile in return. "That will be six-hundred Yen," she said.

"That seems awfully low?" Lina asked.

"Nonsense," Frigga said. "My store, my prices." The cunning curl of her lips convinced Lina that she _had_ lowered the prices on some items... Or not rung up everything. "Now, would you like some bags to take this home with?"

"Yes please..." Gift horses and all...

Frigga helped fold and put the clothes into bags, of which there were only two. The problem was going to be the washer. It wasn't heavy, just awkward. Once Lina had everything, Frigga held the door open for her and Lina stepped onto the sidewalk, her view partially blocked by the washing machine.

Getting home with her haul wouldn't be easy, but she was certainly glad she'd gone. She now had enough nice outfits to last more than a week.

Flos had said there was a laundry shop down the street but screw that. Lina decided it would be cheaper to just hang her clothes to dry. Besides, the mini washing machine wouldn't take a large load of clothes, so it was incentive to do laundry often.

Getting to her building, she gladly hit the handicap door opener button and headed inside, using her elbow to get the up button for the elevator. Getting her keys out required putting the washing machine down, but that was acceptable, since she could shove it into her apartment with her foot before closing and locking the door again.

Setting the bags of clothes down in the bedroom, she took the mini washer to the bathroom to hook up to the sink lines. All her new clothes smelled like dust and needed to be washed before she could wear them to an interview.

Getting it set up in the shower stall in case of leaks, she put in the first load, and headed for her laptop in the living room to start researching Odin Staffing.

The office seemed to have a good reputation, there weren't excessive reviews from people complaining. She sighed and tipped her head back. Being that she couldn't remember where she worked previously, she would have to ignore the hard-won years of career experience and go back to doing admin assistant jobs. What was worse, she didn't even have a degree from an accredited school in this world to point to and say she was qualified for anything _else_!

"Maybe I should sell my information to Regis?" she suggested to the living room and rolled her eyes. "Like I'd even get close enough to tell them anything."

She looked back down at her search, then went to the application page for Odin Staffing. She began laboriously filling it out. This was always tedious when she _had_ work experience, but it felt demeaning when she didn't have anything to put down. Instead, she wrote "Diagnosed amnesia, maybe this information will come back later, but for now, let's just assume I have nothing verifiable. Sorry. I do know what I'm capable of, however, and you will not be disappointed by hiring me."

"Ughh!" Putting the laptop aside, she grabbed her phone.

Making sure her phone was using the local wifi instead of data, she opened the game store app and searched for something free to do. She found a bubble pop game, a cat collector game, and a thing kind of like Tetris. Good enough.

She didn't want to play any of them past five minutes, though, and turned to look at the living room windows overlooking Hollow Street. Setting the phone down, she went to one of the two and tested to see if it opened.

The latch worked at least.

Getting the old window open was another thing entirely.

Shoving and grunting, she finally got it cracked a little, letting the cool Spring air into her musty place. The other window wasn't nearly as difficult.

There were no screens.

"Do they not have bugs here?" she asked and poked her head out the window to look down at the street below.

From below, she'd not noticed there were planters on the windowsills outside. Well, she may not have had a balcony, but she could still have some greenery, so that was nice. She'd need to find something she could ignore, like iris, or daylilies.

Leaning against the window, she sighed and reached back to pull the band holding her hair in its braid. The stitches on the back of her scalp itched. The shaved patch of hair was at least small enough that she could cover it with a braid. The sound of the city traffic was an unfamiliar background noise. Pushing away from the window, she looked around the living room.

There was still plenty of daylight left, but she was tired of shopping. Maybe online shopping? Find a dresser? Though the thrift store down the street had dressers that were in good shape and probably pretty cheap. She'd not looked at them too closely, as she had no way to carry them back to her apartment. Going to the couch, she pulled it across the floor, arranging it in the sunshine. Sitting down again, she stretched out and linked her hands behind her head, staring up at the sky through the open window.

"I miss my family," she said. "I miss George... I need some friends." Even though she couldn't clearly remember any of them. She couldn't even remember if George was a tabby or what.

She sighed and closed her eyes. A short nap in the sun sounded nice.

Something stepped on her.

Holding still, she cracked an eye open as tiny paws continued lowering weight onto her chest, one stepping on her breast. The black and white cat turned to look at her face, acknowledging that he'd woken her, but didn't care, before continuing down to her soft stomach to make biscuits, his tail hitting her in the mouth repeatedly.

"Asshole," she said and pulled a hand out from behind her head to let him sniff her fingers.

He rubbed his cheek against her nails and shuffled, dropping a hip down on her stomach before lifting a leg and licking his crotch, butt aimed directly at her face.

"Seriously rude," she told him, but let him continue anyway. "Where did you come from?" She asked, taking note that he had a red collar and appeared to be neutered. Carefully slipping her fingers under the charm on his collar, she looked.

"Grouchy," she read. "Probably. I've heard tuxedos are very particular and uptight. Never had one myself, though."

He lifted his head to give her a yellow-eyed stare before lowering to continue licking down his tail.

"Apartment 405," she said, reading the address on the cat's collar. "Well, now I know how you got in here. I'll give them a visit in a bit." She scratched behind Grouchy's ears, making him twist and turn his head to get all the spots he wanted.

Shaking his head with a flap of his ears, Grouchy shifted to lay down on her stomach properly and closed his eyes, basking in the sun on his newfound cushy bed.

Fondly, she rubbed the spot in front of his ears.


	6. Names

**April 12, 734**

She stared at her document.

Lina pushed her hands into her hair. "I hope I didn't ruin anything by just writing this down." Her outline of the Timeline was vague in the first place, but she'd kept it even more sparse. Maybe this was why prophecies were always so shitty? For fear of tipping off the god it was meant to upset, with just enough solid stuff to make sure that the major players knew their parts and stuck to the script.

_Noctis, the True King, will be born. In twenty years from his birth, Insomnia falls to Niflheim. The True King goes on a quest with his Guardsmen to meet Lunafreya at Altissia. The world will lose its light shortly afterwards. The True King will then gather the Crystal's light for ten years while the world is in darkness. When he returns, Ardyn's resistance will be met with a new plan._

_The first one through the door won't be who he expects, but the offer should be accepted._

_Ardyn: Remember your true enemy, no matter the face of the one before you. ACCEPT THE OFFER._

Saving it, she decided that it was written and that was that.

What to do with it from there...? Maybe she could leave it in a safety deposit box with instructions that it's to go to her "father" if she were to die?

Lina closed the document and sighed softly once again. She remembered a friend who used to say that sighing made you shorter. She missed having friends. Setting her laptop aside, she went to the kitchen to make some tea. Something thumped behind her.

Looking back, she saw Grumpy pawing at the window. Putting off making tea, she went to the window to open it and let him in. "Hey buddy," she said and pet his head. He arched his back into her palm and walked back and forth across the back of the couch, tail high. Leaving him to do his own thing, Lina went back to the kitchen. Grumpy meowed, following her to the kitchen.

"I don't have any cat food," she told him. "Besides, I think you're sufficiently fed by your owner."

Grumpy meowed, staring up at her.

"I'm not falling for it," she told him. "I got nothing for you."

Still he screamed at her as she stepped past to get the kettle and set it on the stove.

"If you keep yelling at me, I'll go talk to your parent and see what they've got to say about it."

Of course, the cat did not stop. Not that she wanted him to, either. Grumpy wound around her legs, leaning hard against her shin.

"Whiny, whiny," she said and got a mug out, selected her tea and dropped a bit of honey into the cup while she waited for the water to heat up. Leaning down, she pet on him, getting black and white cathair off by the handful. "You need brushed," she told him.

A knock on her door interrupted them both and she went to peek.

Outside, she could barely see the top of a white curly head. Unlocking the door, she opened it a little, then all the way when she found an old woman, standing with her large purse hanging from one arm and house slippers on her feet.

"I'm so sorry, dear, but I think I heard my cat," the woman said. "Oh yes, there he is."

Lina laughed softly as the old woman struggled to pick up the hefty cat. "It's no problem," she said. "He's not lived up to his name."

"My daughter named him Grumpy because he didn't like her," the old woman said, flopping the black and white cat over her shoulder.

"Well, he can come visit me anytime he wants."

"He's mad because it's lunch time, but I'm all out of cat food," the woman said sadly. "Not that he doesn't need to lose weight."

"Dry or wet?" Lina asked as her kettle started to scream. "You want some tea?" she offered.

"Oh I'd love some tea!" the old woman said.

Lina stepped back and gestured for the old lady to enter.

"Julius used to live in this apartment," the woman said as she shuffled in.

Lina closed the door and went to the kitchen to get the kettle off the burner. Pulling out a second mug, she set it down, "I have Earl Grey and a chocolate raspberry?" she offered.

"Oh, just Earl Grey," she said, letting Grumpy back down on the floor. "You still have Julius' couch," she said, shuffling over to touch the back of it.

"Milk and sugar?" Lina asked.

"Just a small bit, if you don't mind."

Lina added the extras and stirred both cups before taking them both to the coffee table. She stepped over Grumpy when he decided to just flop down in the floor right in her path. "Here you go," she said and sat down on the other end of the couch. "I'm Linaturis, by the way. Lina for short."

The old woman shakily lifted the mug and blew on it before taking the smallest sip. "It's lovely to meet you. I'm Juno," she said. "You look like you're my granddaughter's age. What are you living alone here for?"

Lina smiled. "It's the place my father got for me and I can't really afford much else. Besides, its nice and quiet here."

Juno nodded. "It's nice to see someone young around here for once. Is your father that man with that always wears that large coat, or the one with the scar?"

"Scar," Lina said. "The other guy is just a work friend that has too much time on his hands. Sorry if they're loud. Father was raised in a barn and Ardyn doesn't know how not to stomp."

Laughing softly, Juno sipped her tea. "My daughter was supposed to come over today, but I haven't been able to get hold of her. I was going to go to the store myself when I heard Grumpy in here."

"He's a good boy," Lina said, looking at the cat. "He's welcome over here anytime. I haven't had the chance to get a cat of my own yet, so it's nice to have one visit."

Something peeped from the old woman's bag.

"I think your phone is ringing?" Lina said.

"Oh? I can't hardly hear it," she said and set her tea down to dig in the purse. Pulling her phone out, she looked at it, squinted, held it close, then far away. "I wish they would just call and not text. I can't read these things. Dear, would you be so kind?"

Lina leaned over to take the phone. "You have six missed calls from Minerva and one text from Sapho that says Grandma where are you?"

Just as she finished reading it, the phone started buzzing again. Lina pressed the icon to answer, "Its Minerva," she said and handed the phone back.

"Oh, thank you, dear," Juno said and put the phone to her ear. "Hello? ... Where am I? I'm next door, visiting. ...Yes I know Julius is dead," she said testily. "I came looking for Grumpy."

Lina stood, setting her tea on the coffee table and went to the door, opening it to stick her head out. In the hall, two women stood, one with the phone to her ear, berating, "There's no need to take that kind of tone with me, Mom."

The other woman, Lina remembered. "Sapho!" she said and waved.

"It's you!" Sapho said and came over, shoving her phone in her pocket. "You remember your name yet?"

"Linaturis. Lina for short," she said.

"So, you kidnapped my grandma's cat?" Sapho asked, looking into the apartment while the two women continued having their phone conversation only a couple hundred feet apart.

Lina laughed softly. "He just visits me when he's hungry, apparently."

"Julius used to feed him too. He thought Grumpy was his. That's how he got so fat," Sapho said and looked back at her mother. "Should we just leave them?"

"We'd be stuck listening to some side of the conversation either way," Lina said.

"Fair point," Sapho said. "Mom," she called, getting the older woman's attention. Sapho pointed at Lina's door. "She's over here."

Sighing, the woman approached. "I'm so sorry, her memory isn't so good anymore."

"It's no trouble," Lina said with a smile. "We were just having some tea. Would you like to come in?"

"I just needed to get her grocery list," the older woman said.

"I'll stay," Sapho said. Her mother looked briefly betrayed but accepted this and followed Lina in to approach Juno, who was now calling 'Hello?' repeatedly at her phone, unaware that the call had ended.

"Mom," Minerva said and took the phone from her mother's hand. "Please answer your phone next time."

"It never rang," Juno said.

"It was on vibrate," Lina put in. "She probably just can't hear it."

Minerva sighed and messed with the phone for a second. "There. It'll ring now. Mom, where's your grocery list?"

"Its in my purse. I was going to go to the store since you weren't coming today."

"I told you..." Minerva shook her head. "I'm here now. I'll go get your groceries."

Juno was still offended, but she handed over the list. Minerva kissed her mom's cheek.

"I'll be back in a bit. Sapho came to visit too."

"I suppose I should go, then," Juno said.

"You don't need to," Lina said. Sapho came around the other side of the couch and sat next to her grandma.

"Yeah, Lina and I know each other."

"Really?" Minerva asked, looking between them, she seemed to decide to not question it further and instead stuck the list in her purse. "I'll be back in a bit, then." She sidestepped Grumpy, who had not moved from his spot on the floor, just flicked his tail in irritation at all the noise. Minerva closed the door on her way out.

Returning to the kitchen, Lina got another mug out. "Earl Grey or chocolate-raspberry?"

"Oh, chocolate-raspberry!" Sapho said, leaning over to give her grandma a hug and kiss.

Lina prepared the tea and brought it back to the coffee table before sitting on the floor across from them.

"Thanks. This smells amazing," Sapho said. "So how long did you end up staying after they released me?"

"Only another day," Lina said. "My father came to claim me. All my stuff got destroyed during the attack, so I've been living here and rebuilding everything."

Sapho nodded. "I'm glad someone in your family found you."

"What happened?" Juno asked.

"You remember the attack downtown on Founder's Day?" Sapho asked. "Lina was down there when it happened."

"Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that, dear. That whole mess was just tragic," Juno said sadly and seemed to remember her tea finally. Picking it up, she sipped it.

Grumpy, apparently deciding he wasn't the center of attention, hopped onto the coffee table and laid down, tail tapping.

"So. you remember everything now?" Sapho asked.

"No. Big blank spots still, but I'm functional enough to hold down a job." Lina sipped her tea. "Can I have your contact info?"

"Sure!"

* * *

**April 13, 734**

While he'd been true to his word on getting her an ID and such, he had also been looking for who she really was. People didn't just spring out of nowhere, after all.

Deciding to start at the sandwich shop he'd met her in front of, Ardyn had been disappointed to find it partially destroyed, and as such, he had no way of stealing someone's memories to verify she had been in the store. His only other option was to look for a business nearby that dealt with software that had a 'swoosh' in the logo.

If he was being honest with himself, though, he was having fun revisiting the places he'd destroyed with Ifrit. The amount of burnt pavement and rubble still laying around were most pleasing to look upon. The destroyed screens attached to the sides of buildings were even better. Nothing had been spared in his rampage. People were still wandering the street, leaving flowers at stained spots on the sidewalk. Their despair made him giggle with delight.

Some small part of him worried at himself, though.

Was this really who he had become?

Or was this the darkness he'd inherited during his days as a healer? Darkness wasn't inherently evil, after all. Just... Darkness. One only needed to know its instincts and motivations to understand that the daemons did what they did out of fear and pain. People, after all, glowed too. The minute presence of that light made being around them painful, though not nearly as bad as the sun itself. He tipped his hat to keep the light out of his eyes a little better.

His search had taken two days now. He wandered the streets in a sort of circular fashion, ranging out from the sandwich shop. His biggest issue was locating office buildings. Ardyn had decided he could locate them by counting the suits moving in and out of them.

Stopping at a signboard that described the offices in a building, Ardyn looked through them, looking first for blue and white. He finally found one. And with a 'swoosh' as she'd described it. However, he didn't think this seemed like a software company. It was a little distant from the sandwich shop he'd met her at, by about three blocks and given her general shape, Ardyn didn't suspect Linaturis did much walking.

He opened the door and stepped into the building, looking around to find the sign next to the elevator. The business he wanted was on the fifth floor. Pressing the button, he stepped in when the car arrived and headed up.

When the doors opened again, he was faced with a vestibule and a frosted glass door with the blue and white logo for Geographic Fortune. Stepping in, he headed to the front desk where an older woman sat.

"May I help you?" she asked. She didn't look pleasant.

"I was wondering," he reached into his pocket to pull out the photo he'd snuck of Linaturis. "Do you know this woman? Did she work here?"

Taking the photo, the woman adjusted her glasses and tipped her head up and down to find the right focus. "She looks similar to someone, but... I can't place her," the woman said and shook her head.

"Who does she look similar to?"

"I..." Frowning the woman looked at her computer and started typing. "Was she in the attack last week?"

"Yes," Ardyn said. "She has amnesia and I'm trying to find who she is."

"That poor girl," the woman said and finally shook her head as she scrolled through her screen. "Do you know anything else?"

"She said she wrote help files for software. Technical writing, she called it."

The woman typed in this new search term. "We have a technical writer here, but that's a man. He hasn't been in since last week." She turned the screen so he could see the picture of the short, pudgy guy with brown hair and brown eyes. He had dimples like Linaturis, but beyond that, there wasn't anything else that looked similar. His name was Augusta Oblitus.

"Did he have any family I could speak to?" Ardyn asked.

The woman turned her screen away. "I'm afraid I can't give you any personal information," she said. "Good luck."

Ardyn considered stealing the woman's memories right then and there. Instead, he took back his picture of Linaturis and headed back out to the vestibule to think. What if there was another company that fit the description? Shrugging, he headed back down to the street. It wasn't like he had anything better to do with his time at the moment.

The weirdest part... Was that she knew him. She knew he was over two-thousand years old. He needed to make sure she couldn't slip away from him somehow. Finding out who she really was would be a step towards making sure she never found out. Although, from the memories he'd picked up from the psychologist, the brain was a funny thing and could spontaneously reconnect with old memories just from looking at something or smelling things. The man who had been Dr. Viribus would have found her fascinating. Ardyn, now stuck with the man's memories, couldn't help but be influenced by them. It was the latest identity he'd stolen, but beyond that, his education had reminded Ardyn of the man he'd been so long ago... Before getting stabbed in the back and sealed in the dark with nothing but hallucinations and searing pain with every breath. He grit his teeth in fury.

Then, for Bahamute to tell him it was all part of His plan and after everything he was just to go along with destroying the world? Oh, Ardyn would destroy it! Gleefully he would cast it into darkness, then strike down the True King just before the whelp could fix it all, leaving everyone to rot in the darkness the way he'd been left to. It seemed like a sure thing now that he had his own Oracle. Linaturis would give him the information he needed to speed Eos along into its cold and lightless demise.

_If_ he could just convince her to give him more information than that 'twenty years from now' bullshit. Admittedly, she was far more direct than Aera had been with her prophecies. Linaturis seemed to have a direct line on what was to come instead of second-hand knowledge of it. At least, that was the impression he got when she said she couldn't say more in case Bahamute overheard and changed the game.

No further leads presented themselves during his walk, so perhaps returning to harass Linaturis would be best? Maybe she had remembered something more? If he could find out who or what she loved, he could kill them, or at least threaten to, in order to keep her in line. Turning his steps, he wound his way through the bustling metropolis of Insomnia and approached her apartment building in time to see her walking up the steps, carrying a bag of takeout. Lengthening his stride, he caught up at the door and opened it.

She gave him a smile and entered.

He followed her into the elevator.

"Hardly seems like a healthy dinner," he said. Whatever it was smelled awful.

"I'm tired and don't feel like ramen again," she said.

The door opened on the fourth floor and she headed out first, getting her keys from her purse. Unlocking the door, she kicked her shoes off towards the wall beside the door and dropped her purse on the counter to the left. Ardyn followed her in and closed the door. He looked around.

Not much had changed since the day before. Except the couch was now converted into a bed. She unpacked her dinner on the counter. "Want some?" she asked.

"No. It smells disgusting," he said and wrinkled his nose. "What even is it?"

"Something from Kenny's," she said. "I think I got salmon." She opened the package and made a happy purse of her lips that looked like a cat's mouth. Leaning over the counter, she opened a drawer and fished out a fork before taking her dinner back to the couch, sitting cross-legged with her feet in the seat with her.

"That is hardly ladylike," Ardyn felt obliged to mention.

"Eat my ass," she said and forked some of her mysteriously prepared "food" into her face.

Ardyn squinted at her. "What sort of stockyard were you raised in to speak like that?" he asked.

Linaturis pondered as she chewed, then waved her fork. "Can't remember!" she said cheerfully and took another bite.

"Does the name Augusta Oblitus mean anything to you?"

She did stop eating and sucked on her fork, tipping her head in thought. "I mean. There are a million names that sound familiar, that one being one of them, but I've no idea who that would be."

"What other names sound familiar?" Ardyn asked.

"Amelia, Evona, Camilla, Aeliana, Antonia... Cicero, Claudius?"

Sighing, he folded his arms and leaned against the counter. "What about Geographic Fortune?"

"Yeah... But so does Fortuna Geographic, and GeoFortune," Linaturis said. "And Bibliotech, and Ryder Simmons."

"What are those?" Ardyn asked.

"Software companies, I think," Linaturis said. "I was looking some up today. They have similar logos, but I just... None of them sound right. Or more like they _all_ sound right but not completely?" She shrugged and went back to eating.

"Are you deliberately making it difficult?" Ardyn asked.

Lowering her takeout plate, she looked up at him with a serious expression. "No. I want to know who I was. I want to go back to having my career and getting paid what I'm worth. I want to be respected in my field, which was what I'd been working on. I think. But I can't remember where I worked, who I worked for or with, and I don't think you know how frustrating it is to have your whole identity stripped away. Not just... Not just everything you were hoping for in the future, but all knowledge of it except vague concepts. Instead, all you've got clearly in your head is some stupid Timeline you don't even have a part in." She stabbed her fish and squished it around in the sauce.

Ardyn raised a brow at her. "Try being crucified in the dark for two-thousand years only to find out that all traces of your existence were erased. By your own brother no less."

"If I had a brother I could remember," Linaturis retorted with a purse of her lips. "It'd be something more than what I've got. Instead, I've got you: Mr. Broody McBroodface."

"So you're saying you would rather be tormented for two-thousand years than completely ignorant of your past?" Ardyn asked.

"Well, I suppose when you put it that way," Linaturis shrugged again and went back to eating, though not with as much enthusiasm as before. "But look at it from my point of view, I've got nothing except what you've given me, and it makes me... Anxious. You know what it's like to have everything taken from you in the blink of an eye. I have no way to protect myself from that."

"If you keep me satisfied," Ardyn said coldly, "Then you won't have to worry about that."

"I'm going to find a job and be able to survive on my own," Linaturis said firmly with a defiant glare. "And what information I _feel_ like giving you will be on _my_ terms. I'm giving you the opportunity to get what you want in the end, so respect my wishes." She smirked. "After all, as the only one who knows what the Timeline is, I could easily give you false information."

Disliking her answer, Ardyn considered his options. "I could just torture you."

"Then I'd say whatever comes to mind to make you stop," Linaturis said simply. "Torture has never been a good way to get information out of someone."

Unfortunately, he knew she was right. Even before he'd absorbed the psychologist's memories, Ardyn would have agreed with that. People didn't respond well to that kind of pressure. He smiled slowly. "Then, I suppose I will have to charm the information out of you."

"Ha!" She said, "I'm already on to you, you smarmy son of a bitch." She wagged her fork at him. "You can try, but I will resist."

"Then it is game set and match," Ardyn said.

"Deal," Linaturis said and returned to eating her dinner.

"What do you still require to make this place livable?"

"Don't worry about it," Linaturis said. "I'll get them on my own."

"How am I to charm you if you will not allow me to shower you in gifts?" Ardyn asked.

She lifted her brow at him. "Maybe I don't like _gifts_ ," she suggested.

He stared at her, deadpan. Why were women so difficult? Even Aera had frustrated him and he'd have done anything for her. She never _wanted_ anything, though she'd appreciated the small things he brought back from his travels. Linaturis... would require observation to determine the trinkets she would like.

"You're staring at me," Linaturis said, "Can you not?"

"How else am I to judge you?" Ardyn asked.

"Uh, talking to me?" Linaturis suggested. She slid her feet to the floor and took her takeout tray to the fridge. She still had half of it left and put it in a plastic bag to put away before washing her fork, drying it on a towel and putting it back in the drawer. "However, I want to get a shower, so uh. You can either just go or... I don't know, stare at the wall." She turned away and headed into the bedroom, closing and locking the door behind her.

Annoyed, Ardyn stared at the door, considering breaking it down, then took a breath to calm himself. It wasn't worth getting that worked up over. Instead, he headed out of her apartment. He would find something else to do.

**Author's Note:**

> This story has over 300,000 words, but there are some gaps in scenes I'll be filling in before posting, otherwise it is finished. I plan on trying to post every Monday.  
> This story makes liberal use of the additional information found in various sources across the web, anime, books, and DLC episodes.


End file.
